She Will Be Loved
by angelheaded-revolutionist16
Summary: "God, you are so terrified of anything real. It's like you're floating out in space. Touch the ground, Enjolras. Live in the world, make a mistake. Make this mistake." Modern AU based on the song of the same title by Maroon 5. Is it an é/e or is it an e/R I dunno, read and find out! A bit of feuilly/Azelma romance going on too
1. Chapter 1

A/n: Maroon 5! Yay! Anyway please tell me what you think, this was supposed to be a one shot but I thought "eh, I dunno." so it's not a one shot anymore.

* * *

When did he first meet her? Oh right, at uni, Marius brought in with him a girl with dark hair, tan skin and a dimpled smile. That was her, she had always been that; Marius's shadow. He never spoke to her, they weren't friends but curiosity would usually overtake him and questions started to fill his mind, he wanted to talk to her but only for the sole purpose of feeding his questioning brain but he never did, until their last day at the university. They were at Courfeyrac and Marius's dorm, there were a lot of booze and a lot of people, not really his scene and he didn't want to come but Grantaire insisted saying "it's your last day, better loosen up and actually have fun." But he didn't have fun, how can people have fun in a place like that? All stuffy and suffocating, the music was pretty bad too and he never really enjoyed alcohol plus there were couples making out and people dancing and rubbing their sweaty bodies on each other and on him. It was like his worst nightmare, tripled. So, he went to the rooftop, thankfully, nobody was there, he inhaled deeply and rubbed his temples, he decided to stay up there until the party cleared out, now he understands Joly's hypochondriac manner. He was all alone up there until she came out.

"...fucking princess," He seem to have heard her say as she swung the metal door open. She looked at him and her brows knit together.

"Oh hey," Those words came out shocked and slurry. "Didn't see you there, do you want me to go or?" He didn't know if he wanted her gone or not so he shrugged. He actually felt quite lonely to be up there, not that he didn't enjoy being alone but there was just something about being alone in a rooftop on your last day while there's a party going on just two floors below that felt a little lonely.

"Smoke?" She opened a pack of cigarettes and stole one, put it up in her mouth and offered him the pack, he refused and in his mind, he was lecturing her about the dangers of smoking but he didn't say anything because she looked like she needed someone to listen to her not someone to lecture her about lung cancer (wow, he was really becoming Joly now). She lit her cigarette and smoke escaped her mouth. He looked at her, not stare but look, really look at her, he realised this was the first time he actually spent more than five minutes alone with her. He looked at her and she looked awfully sad and lonely and broken and fed up. "So, not enjoying the party downstairs?" She broke the invading silence.

"Not really my scene,"

"Well, kind of figured that one out."

"What do you mean?"

"Seriously?" She had a slurry, drunk giggle. "You look like one of those posh pricks that thinks their better than everybody, you think that people who enjoys scenes like these are either complete idiots who are not doing anything with their lives or paper people having their paper fun with paper things in a paper town," She looked back at him and blew a smoke, he can sense her drunkenness and her restlessness. "You think this is all bullshit."

"Well, yeah, I mean, this is all just bullshit,"He looked at her and brushed his blonde hair away from his eyes. She just smiled and shaked her head, she flicked the cigarette and smoked again. "You? Why are you up here?"

"Out of place,"

"Marius and Cosette?" He remembered Marius talking about a blonde girl a couple of months ago and everyday since he met her, it was tiring listening yo a lovestruck idiot but Courfeyrac said he was just 'jealous' because Marius had 'someone special' in his life. Please, he ha someone special in his life, PATRIA. Plus, who has time? They were at the university, love and sex can wait.

She laughed and he became confused, it was a serious question, he didn't care about her love life but still, it was conversation.

"I'm that shallow to you, aren't I?" He must have had a confused look because she answered her own question. "You think I'm so shallow, I don't need a man to make me happy or special or anything. Why would you think my whole world revolves around Marius, I'm not some manic pixie dream girl, here only to teach dear Marius a lesson on how to lose people in less than 10 days." Her voice was rising up, she wasn't angry, she was fed up. "I'm not one-dimensional, I have my own ideals and dreams and a fucking life. And I hate it when all people see when they look at me is 'Marius's shadow', Marius's lovestruck girl, 'Marius's this or Marius's that, I'm not Marius's anything! I'm Èponine Thenardièr with an actual fucking name and an actual life." She paused and then decided she was finished and then realised her cigarette was burning her hand so she threw it away and inhaled as much oxygen as she can intake.

"I'm sorry," He said

"You should be."

"That wasn't what I meant-"

"Just shut up." She cut him off, they stood there in silence for a while until he spoke up.

"So," He started, testing if it was already okay to speak. She looked at him and he knew it was the go signal. "Who's the fucking princess?"

"Oh, that," she giggled and she looked pretty. "There's this girl downstairs and she was talking about her dress and how it's blood orange, I'm like 'no it's not, it's fucking red', she was so fucking pretentious, you should have been there." Her voice hung in the air, and he realised how much he didn't know this girl and how much he wanted to know more. She was like a stranger to her, a stranger but he knew her so well now. He knows that Èponine Thenardièr is not just some girl, he looked back at his memories and started to look at the little things he missed. He realised that she used to hum to herself and sing and he realised how much he actually loved her voice, she owned several tattered copies of classic books and she had books by authors like Jane Austen, Rizal, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Eliot and many more that he can't remember. He knows that she's a Music major and she's written songs and she wrote their graduation song, he realised how he's the shallow one for thinking that she was just Marius's shadow, of course she was more than that, she was never just that.

They sat down on the cold, dusty floor and waited until the sun rose up from the buildings of Paris, the air was cold but they didn't mind and everyone was going back to their respective dorms but their was just something about that moment that they didn't want to let go yet.

"So, what are you doing when you get outta here?"

"I'm working at a newspaper for a year and then I'm off to law school, you?"

"I'm gonna write songs and live,"

He didn't know what she meant and it didn't made any sense but it didn't matter because she stood up and looked at him, he realised she looked beautiful, her tan skin was beautiful under the rising sun and her hair was flying behind her back. She looked hopeful and beautiful and perfect and at that moment he wanted to kiss her because it felt like the right thing to do but he didn't and he missed the moment and he stood up and she left. That was the last time he saw her until 3 years later.

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Thank you do much for reading. Please tell me your thoughts :)


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: hey guys, im so sorry for the very late update, my laptop broke down and i had to type most of this story on my phone. im so sorry, anyway, enjoy :)**

**Azelma=Kaya Scodelario**

**Guelemer (is that how you spell the name?)=Ian Somerhalder (feel my intense blushing. ugh, fucking somerhalder!)**

**Disclaimer: nope.**

* * *

Azelma

"... To the cynic who never failed to believe," Combeferre raised his champagne glass and the bubbles glistened under the yellow light, he looked at the curly man sitting next to him, "To Grantaire,"

"To Grantaire!" The rest of their friends repeated, proud smiles were passed to Grantaire, clinked his glass with theirs and slapped his back appreciatively, a dear 'Congratulations' here and there. They were celebrating his achievement, Grantaire had been one of the two international artists that were featured in Modern Painters magazine and was the cover of the magazine, the national newspaper also put him on the list of young upcoming artists to 'look out for'. Over the course of three years, he had small exhibitions in small museums and has sold some of his paintings to cafes and other modern paintings collectors, he had also done photography and sculptures and they were all fantastic. It didn't really shock his circle of friends about his achievements, they had always believed in George Grantaire's talent, they reckon the only person who didn't think Grantaire was amazing was Grantaire himself. He wasn't a pessimist but he wasn't fairly enthusiastic about life, either, his friends supposed it was just his way of finding artistic value in things, kind of like Jean Prouvaire's ability to find love in almost everything. Grantaire's view of things and life is his main inspiration, at least that's what they think. He would usually drink right before he paints and after he paints and almost everyday, it'll be a lucky sight to find Grantaire fully sober and fully awake, Bahorel asked him once why he always drinks and the man just replied, "So reality cannot destroy me,"

"I'll drink to that," Bahorel replied as he took another shot of vodka

That night, they went on to hijack an elevator and tried to fly it to Puerto Rico. It didn't work. Much to their disappointment in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

* * *

The night progressed and the hours passed, the Musain was still filled with people, Grantaire and Coufeyrac can be found on the small stage singing to some show tune, twirling and fumbling about, they almost hit somebody when their shared microphone 'accidentally' slipped out of their hands and into the table that were booing them. They skipped a couple of words and their voices were slurry but the customers seemed to enjoy it, with Courfeyrac's charm and Grantaire's humour, who won't?

_"Tell me more, tell me more,"_ The crowd's excitement doubled as they moved on to singing Summer Nights from Grease, the energy and the vibe inside the Musain was just beautiful, everyone was having a good time, even the marble statue, and it was a Saturday night, what could be better?

Marius nipped Cosette's ear and whispered something to her which made her giggle and blush furiously, Joly looked at the couple and sighed. They have been together for almost four years now, their romance started in their 4th year in the university after three years of looking for the 'mystery girl' who attended the freshman party, he found her walking down a hallway while he walked out of the music department, where Éponine showed him her new song, Marius said it was love at first sight, talking about how it was a 'moment of breathless delight', oh what good fun it was to listen to a man who had just fallen in love. Of course, Joly would know the feeling of love, he met his girlfriend, Musichetta, a few years back in a street, she was barely walking when he met her, he realised she may have sprained her ankle so he helped her and their love story started to blossom from then on. After graduating they all went their separate ways but just after a few months it seemed like fate had brought the group of friends back together again in Paris. Joly was in medical school, Marius, Enjolras, Courfeyrac and Combeferre were already in their second year of law school, they all took a year off after graduating to gain some experience, Bahorel became a kick-boxer, Bossuet was now an actor, Jean Prouvaire is now writing his debut novel, Feuilly is working as a curator for the Musée National d'Art Modernne and Grantaire was now one one of the artists to 'look out for' and is in the Musain singing to Olivia Newton-John. Yes, these were their plans, everything was going swimmingly.

Closing time was approaching and their party was starting to die down.

"Guys, this has been awesoooome, we shall do it again sometime," Grantaire shoved himself inside Enjolras' car and Courfeyrac was at the back seat sleeping tight. Grantaire and Courfeyrac shared an apartment, Enjolras lived near their apartment so he just took the liberty of driving his two friends.

"Feuilly," Bossuet perked as his leg went inside the car. "Let's go." He said

"No, man, I'm thinking of walking home," Feuilly said, "You know, shake the drink away,"

"It's one o'clock in the morning, it'll be better if you just ride with us," Musichetta said as she rolled the window of the car.

"No, it's fine." Feuilly chuckled. "I can take care of myself."

"Well, just make sure you wrap yourself and button your coat." Joly said as he snuggled near Musichetta

"Okay, doc, bye now!" And so, Joly, Musichetta and Bossuet drove home. Cosette and Marius also asked Feuilly if he wanted a ride home but he just kindly refused. Bahorel drove home in his motorcycle and Jehan and Combeferre shared a cab. Feuilly had another reason why he wanted to walk home, this reason was a girl, the girl at the Musain, the girl that served them drinks all night, the girl that had a big smile and dark hair, she was beautiful, almost reminded him of somebody but he cannot remember. He decided he'd wait for her and talk to her, maybe even ask her out to dinner or walk her home. He stood outside the Musain for a couple of minutes until the girl walked out as Feuilly was about to approach her, another man in a stylish coat came up and kissed her.

Feuilly sighed, turned around and walked the opposite way, he had such high hopes, crushed in less than a second, he cursed himself for even thinking something was going to happen between them, plus, the girl looked like she could have been his sister, she looked young.

'She probably thinks I'm a creepy old dude,' Feuilly thought, he brooded over his non-existent love life as he walked past the shops near the Musain. His thoughts were cut off when a sack of flesh hit his body, another person had just bumped into him, he looked down at the woman and immediately his mind traced back to old memories.

**_"Hey guys, this is Éponine..."_**

Marius' voice slithered its way into his brain and he blinked several times before a small smile formed in his face, she was looking up at him, her phone lit her dark face

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you like that," She looked dishevelled and stressed and unfocused, her hair was sticking up everywhere and she looks like she had woken up. He looked at her more closely before he whispered her name.

"How did you know my name?" She asked

"It's me Feuilly, Marius's friend, the Amis?" Feuilly replied,

"Oh," She said, trying to rack her brain. "OH!" Eureka "Oh my god, hi, how are you,what are you doing here at this time?"

"Oh, I'm fine, I've just been at the Musain, actually, you remember Grantaire?"

She nodded

"Well, he's painting now, he was in some international magazine in New York and -"

"'Ponine!"

Feuilly was cut off when a voice behind him made itself present. It was a female's voice. The same voice of that waitress.

"Azelma, are you okay?"

"Yeah, it was just Gueulemer, again." The one named Azelma said in annoyance. "Hi," She smiled at Feuilly

"Hi," He replied dumbly,

"Azelma, this is Feuilly, an old friend." Éponine stepped in the middle of the two

"Yeah, I served them their drinks," Azelma told her sister.

Feuilly offered to walk the sisters home, they hesitated at first but then agreed, much to Feuilly's delight, while walking he has learned more about the shady Gueulemer person and his involvement with Azelma, an 'on again off again' boyfriend. He had also learned that after university, Éponine took off with some guy named Montparnasse,

"Yeah, we toured around Europe, you know, but that didn't work out, obviously." Éponine breathed out, "lived a couple of months in Madrid,a year in Hamburg, a couple of weeks in London, around Europe, you know, making music but nothing really lasts, I suppose, we were so close to getting our 'big break' but..." She sighed bitterly, "So I'm back here in Paris, I'm now working at this advertising company, just got back this year actually,"

Feuilly just nodded.

"What about you, what have you been doing, Feuilly?" She smiled at her, showing her dimples

"Well, I work at a museum now, Musée National d'Art Modernne? Yeah, that one. That's really all I've been doing," He said gingerly.

"Good for you," They stopped and she looked up at the building, Azelma made eye contact with him and she smiled, he smiled back. "Well, this is me, us, I meant us, nice to see you, Feuilly," She pulled him in a friendly hug and he shook hands with Azelma, they waved goodbye and he was left standing there, smiling to himself, he walked away with a little more beat in his step because in his right hand, a number of a girl was enclosed.

* * *

"Hey guys, so what are we having tonight?" Azelma flashed a winning smile at the group of friends who were sitting at their usual table, these were the same friends that brought the house down with their rendition of Summer Nights, but there was only four of them.

"Ugh, Jesus, not so loud, what the hell?" Courfeyrac looked up from his shades and immediately turned suave mode. "Well, hello there, the name's Courfeyrac, also known as Big C and if you recite the alphabet what usually comes next is the Big -" She waited for her to reply but she just told him to fuck off.

"Okay," Courfeyrac just sunk back down in his chair, "I'll get, um, a burger, please."

"Seriously," Azelma put her pen and paper to her side, "this is Paris and you're getting a burger. Come on, man, try and put some class, this ain't McDonalds, this is the Musain, this place is the best restaurant in Paris, or okay, I'm exaggerating, it's not the best restaurant in Paris but this place has got some massive history. Did you know, that this was where the barricades were built during the June rebellion of 1832. Yeah, and you're getting a fucking burger, nice. Try and re-evaluate your food choices,"

Azelma had always been a very outspoken person, like Éponine, but sometimes Azelma couldn't really control her ramblings, she'd say what she wants to say and she's very straightforward about things, there is no such thing as 'awkward' with Azelma, she had had to deal with people from a very young age; helping in her parents in the inn, conning people, robbing people, that was her life, her life was people.

Azelma was 14 when her parents got arrested, she had to live in a foster home until she was eighteen, her brother, Gavroche, was adopted by a nice, rich couple and moved to the countryside, where he would surely hate. Gavroche had always been a city urchin and always will, Azelma was sure of that. Her parents got arrested after Éponine's eighteenth birthday so she was already legal, she was at uni and Azelma was in a foster home. Éponine got a university scholarship after graduating high school, Azelma, on the other hand, was kicked out of the foster home on the day of her graduation, so she graduated high school wearing a pair of jeans and an old shirt and had to live off of the money her sister sent her every month, she worked at different jobs, lived in crappy apartments and finally he sister turned up at her 21st birthday, this year, they had lived together since.

"But I'm going to get you your burger because the customer, apparently, is always right," She furiously put down the word 'burger' on her small paperpad.

"Oh, and, can I get Pepsi with that. Thanks," Courfeyrac winked at her, obviously wasn't listening to a word she just said. But a guy with glasses and a dirty blonde hair was looking at her, he put his book aside.

"And you?" She looked at the blonde man.

"Fettuccine," He replied

"You do know that fettuccine's Italian, right? It's not French cuisine," She said with a sad smile

"Is it not?" He asked as if he didn't know that

"Nope,"

"Bad night?" A bald man asked, he was sitting right next to Courfeyrac (who seemed to be asleep)

"Terrible," She replied. "My boyfriend and I just broke up. Again. There's a weird leaking noise in my apartment, I gave my number to this guy yesterday, I think his name was Feuilly and I think he was your friend, and he hasn't texted me or even called me, and my hair smells like mayonnaise and sweat and I don't know why, plus, I am so tired, I had to cover for another waitress 'cause she's fucking pregnant, I've been here since seven in the goddamn morning and I really want to go home." Bossuet, Combeferre and Jean Prouvaire sat there frozen, obviously wasn't prepared for this burst of emotions. "I'm sorry," She said in between her sobs.

"There, there," Jean Prouvaire said awkwardly, a couple of seconds have passed and she looked at Jean Prouvaire, waiting for his order. "I'll get spaghetti, please, and a can of Coca-Cola, thank you,"

"You?" She turned to Bossuet

"I'll get the, um," Bossuet wasn't prepared for this, he had something on his mind before this girl just suddenly broke down in front of them, "I'll get the fish."

"What fish?" She asked

"Fish and Chips,"

"We don't fucking serve fish and ch- You know what," She said as she wrote down their orders in her paperpad, "Fuck it, I hate this fucking place."

"Why? It's the Musain, it's amazing, just like you said, massive history, heart of the June rebellion, I mean, it's awesome," Combeferre said

"Yeah, well, you're not the one working here, are you?" Azelma rolled her eyes, "Will that be all?" The three of the nodded and Courfeyrac just grunted.

After she walked away, the four of them murmured to themselves

"A bit of a bitch, ain't she?" Courfeyrac slightly grunted, "quite the contrast from her bubbly personality last night,"

"Let's be considerate, she's had a bad day," Combeferre, the voice of reason, as usual

"Yeah," Jean Prouvaire agreed. "Although she kind of reminds me of somebody,"

"Éponine, remember her? That waitress reminds me so much of her," Bossuet said

"Oh yeah, I remember, I wonder where that girl is now,"Combeferre mused,

* * *

"Fuuuuck," She said as another pile of documents came crashing to her desk, she pushed her dark hair and tied her hair back.

"Yeah, we need this for tomorrow," Leighton, her co-worker, sighed, "you're staying here for another two hours, tops."

"I'm just gonna call my little sister, excuse me" She punched her sister's number into her phone and put it against her face, there was a couple of rings before Azelma finally answered.

"Hey,"

_"Hey, 'Ponine, what's up? Are you home?"_

"No, I think I might be a little late tonight?"

_"What time will you come home?"_

"Around 11, I think,"

_"Well, okay, I'll be home in half an hour, and I think your old uni friends are here"_

A pause

"Okay, um, tell them I said, um, hi, I guess,bye,"

_"Bye, see you soon, love you,"_

"Love you," She sighed and bit her lower lip, she looked at the massive pile of paper and sighed.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Leighton looked at her with considerate eyes

"It's okay, it's not your fault,"

* * *

"I can't believe Professor Javert didn't choose me to be an intern for his new case," Enjolras kept looking at his essay to find something wrong.

"Don't worry, buddy, we're only in second year,"Combeferre tapped his back. "There's so much more opportunities,"

"I don't care, I want this internship now," Enjolras said and continued to write briskly in his paper,

Enjolras came in with Grantaire and Feuilly, apparently Marius, Cosette, Joly and Musichetta were having a 'couples' dinner at Marius and Cosette's place. Bahorel was with a girl he met at the gym.

"Hey guys," Feuilly said as he sat nest to Grantaire, who was laughing like a lunatic, he pointed at him and looked at Jean Prouvaire.

"His still drunk from last night,"

"Oh," Just then Azelma walked in with a plate of their orders,

"Thanks," They all said.

"Hi, Azelma," Feuilly blushed

"Hi, Feuilly, do you want anything?"

"Yeah, a bottle of beer would be nice,"

"Okay, anything else?"

"No, just that," And she walked away without a second glance, he looked back at his friends and they were all staring at him.

"How did you know the scary waitress?" Bossuet asked

"What? Azelma? She's Éponine's sister," Feuilly said and he then went on to detail on how he saw Éponine the night before.

Enjolras listened to him, it's been three years since he last saw the girl, he felt a ittle bad for not keeping in contact with her, but why should he? He wasn't friends with her, she was just an acquaintance, but, still, he was curious about the girl from the rooftop on his last day at uni. The girl that didn't want to be called one-dimensional, Éponine Thenardier, the girl with

_**"...an actual fucking name and an actual life,"**_

He chuckled slightly to himself as he recalled the night at the rooftop. He looked up and noticed that all his friends were looking at him, even Grantaire, with their eyebrows raised.

"So, anyway," Feuilly continued, completely ignoring Enjolras sudden laughter. "she's now living here and that," she pointed to Azelma, "is her baby sister,"

"Oh, that makes so much sense," Bossuet said, clarity illuminating his eyes

"And I am thinking of asking her out," Feuilly said

"Who, Éponine?" Enjolras asked

"No, Azelma," Feuilly replied,

"Oh that's so cute," Jehan said

"Ugh, that's so gross, you're like his dad or something, how old is she? 18?" Bossuet looked at him

"Uh, no, she's 21," Feuilly said but just before he could make another witty reply, Azelma came to their table and served their drinks.

"So, Azelma," Enjolras said as he looked up from his paper, "Feuilly said you're Éponine's sister, how is she?"

"Yeah, she's fine, I was actually just talking to her at the phone there, she says hi," Azelma admired the beautiful blond in front of her, his curly hair was dishevelled and he looked hot, she bit her lower lip to show her interest but he just looked away from her, "okay, so guys, that's me for the night, some other waitress will be serving your drinks and will bring you the cheque, k?"

They nodded and murmured a small 'thank you' but before she could go, Feuilly asked if she could talk to her.

"Yeah, give me five minutes,"

And so he did, he waited for her at the bar and when she walked out, he asked if they could have dinner and she said yes.

* * *

so what do you guys think of this chapter? idk, i just wanted to put some background details on the Amis and Azelma kind of just popped up from somewhere. i hope you liked it and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE FAVOURITES/REVIEWS/FOLLOWS. YOU GUYS MAKE MY DAY :D


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